Coach's Notebook: Oct. 16

Jim Harbaugh addressed the media on Wednesday.

Jim Harbaugh addressed the media on Wednesday.

What are your early impressions, and I realize it’s only been a day and a half, of your two rookie defensive linemen just from practice?“Yeah, it is early. We’ve had some walk-thru at this point, but excited. That’s my approach and I know they are. This is much like their first day in football. And, I’m sure that there’s some gravel in the gut there and some anticipation, excitement, nerves, all those things. So, working with them and the players are, our coaches are, to get them acclimated back into playing 11-on-11 football.”

Is this sort of a cram-course for them? I saw them working with 49ers defensive line coach Jim Tomsula after the walk-thru yesterday out in the chicken coup and stuff like that. Is that the idea to just try to get as much time on the field with them as possible this week?“Yes. I think that’s something that will be very beneficial. As much football as possible. Scout-team, as many reps as we can get them both with our defense and on the scout-team looks, 11-on-11 football.”

But, are they, since they’re coming back from two pretty serious injuries then, are they still restricted meaning just you kind of have to wait to see how they do the next day?“You’re talking about [DT] Quinton Dial and [DT] Tank Carradine? Right now the doctors have no restrictions on them.”

How are you guys as far as the defensive line depth heading into this game? Do you guys have to make any kind of moves to the 53 man?“We’ll see as the days go on here, possible.”

What do you know about DL Glenn Dorsey’s status at this point and is it not as severe as maybe you thought the injury was?“Well, I don’t remember thinking that it was, you know, the severity of it. And, he did some working out yesterday, rehabbing, and we’ll see where that is today.”

How do you fit CB Eric Wright into the mix? A veteran coming into a new system at this time of the season, how does that plan unfold?“Much like the two defensive linemen and [WR] Mario Manningham. Get them back into acclimated, acclimated to playing 11-on-11 man football.”

Is it a little easier with him because he’s not coming off a significant injury, or an injury?“Well, there’s no restrictions from the doctors as well. But, there’s the getting acclimated back to playing 11-man football.”

I know we touched on it with you on Monday, but just this stretch of travel and getting everybody ready, did the trips to Youngstown prepare this team for this kind of a stretch do you think?“Some that were here, possibly. There’s other guys that weren’t. Right now, it’s a matter of, same way we treated those Youngstown trips, back-to-back East Coast games that we played in 2011 and 2012, and that’s concentrating on taking care of our business today and handling that.”

When you haven’t seen a team like Tennessee for a while. How much more time does it take the staff to prepare for a team that you haven’t faced and you may not be familiar with?“More time getting familiar certainly with personnel, scheme. The amount of time is the same. You spend as much as you possibly can on your opponent. There’s definitely some things that you’re not familiar with as opposed to a division team.”

Did you start your prep work though any earlier obviously this is a team that you, that this team hasn’t faced in a while?“Yes. We started some prep work last week.”

Titans TE Delanie Walker said today this has been a good opportunity for him to get a little bit more of an opportunity. What are your thoughts on seeing him and what he meant here and also the opportunity he has now?“I’m not happy to see him in a Titans 82 jersey. He’s really playing well. On a personal level, I miss Delanie. Wish him a long and successful career and have great memories of him when we were teammates. But, I know the competitor he is. I know the player he is. Our challenge, our task in defending him is high.”

What did you notice from the Titans in their game last Sunday against Seattle?“Offensively they run the ball very effectively. Very physical offensive line. Very stout defensively. Probably the best team we’ve seen at stripping, clubbing, punching the ball out, creating turnovers, very physical, competitive secondary. A fine football team. Very well coached. Excellent on special teams.”

Do you make that a point of emphasis this week, holding onto the ball? I mean, obviously it’s something you work on every week, but is it a special point of emphasis this week?“Yeah, it’s really got to be. That’s something that’s always a special point of emphasis, always something that is vital, critical to a team’s well-being. But, I really think you have to this week. If it’s 10 out of 10 every week, it’s 11 out of 10 this week. It’s very important.”

How does RB Frank Gore go about it? I mean, he gets a lot of yards after contact, so once he reaches that initial point of line, how do you see him running and protecting the ball?“Well, don’t see anybody doing it better than Frank Gore. He had the one that got stripped out from a defender coming from a non-aggressive angle and he didn’t see him and he let his guard down. When that happens to Frank, you’re not going to sneak up on Frank again and hit him over the head with a bag of dung a second time. That’s how I feel about Frank. So, it’s a huge point of emphasis for him.”

When it comes to QB Colin Kaepernick running and staying safe, does he have any different marching orders this year than he did last year?“Marching orders? No.”

Titans QB Jake Locker hasn’t, he’s been cleared medically, but he hasn’t been fully ruled out. Does that change your week of preparation?“You’re never in a position of knowing until you know, until they’re ruled out. So, yeah, I mean, there has to be an awareness and a preparation there.”

How different is their offense with him in as far as play calling, what they look to do?“Well, I’ve always thought this, he’s like a running back with his ability to run the football. I’ve always thought that. And I’ve seen it up close, been defeated by it. He’s evolved, grown. He’s always been an extremely tough competitor. That’s why you, knowing the competitor he is, if there’s any possible way that he would play he’ll be out there.”

Did you guys work him out pre-draft?“Did we work him out at the combine?”